Worcester Marathon? Shoes. Minor injury.

Got in my longest run as of late, 16 miles this past Saturday. Felt good and averaged around 6:56 minute miles. This week is a relatively easy week with a  long run of 14. So far I've been stuck on the treadmill since the wife is out of town this week. No fun since I've had a mild cold; achey, tired, mild sore throat. 

Seriously considering the Worcester Marathon on May 4th I think. I could use the miles so I figured why not race it. All I really need to do is add in a few marathon specific workouts and I should do ok, I have the base miles. A little bit of rearranging to the normal schedule to accommodate a short taper. 

Main thing I'd need to do would be some faster miles to get my leg speed up and focus on holding a faster pace for longer. Since I train at around seven minute miles very easily I'd like to think I can break three hours. So I did some research and figured out a few key workouts and what pace they need to be at. I'd love to run a 2:45 which may be feasible. I'll see how these key workouts go with that goal in mind and adjust accordingly. 

My left foot has been aching a bit which is odd. A pain on the outside right at the "knuckle" of my little toe. It seems to go away once I'm warmed up but still a but of a concern. I keep thinking it may be my new shoes. I've been in the Brooks PureCadence for a while now. I got a new pair of the Cadence 3 in January and they do fit a little narrower. The upper seems to be a little stiffer too compared to the Cadence 2. We shall see, I'm going to push on through, keep my eyes open for close out Cadence 2's, and hope for the best. Kind of bummed out about the width change as the Cadence 2 was awesome! I do have two pairs of the PureGrit 2 though which fits wider so if need be I've got back ups.

I've been super happy with the Brooks PureProject line of shoes. Yeah the narrower fit MAY be an issue but otherwise they are awesome. As mentioned I've been running in the PureCadence for a while and I've raced and trained in the PureGrit 1 and 2. I also recently got a pair of PureConnect 3 to try out. Basically a more flexible, less cushioned, neutral version of the Cadence. I love the flexibility of it but a tad bit more width could be nice. I've just been hesitant to wear them with my toe issue. I don't necessarily need the support of the Cadence, since changing my foot strike support is useless, but I preferred the feel. 

Well, on with the miles. Hopefully this mild cold goes soon but at least tomorrow I'll be running outside which is so much nicer on my sinuses.